Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday, Senator Grassley announced that the Judiciary Committee will continue its hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on Monday morning. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford of California and Judge Kavanaugh have both been invited to testify under oath.

Dr. Ford will have the opportunity to offer sworn testimony. She communicated with the ranking Democrat on the committee in writing nearly 7 weeks ago, but through no fault of hers, Senate Democrats chose to play politics and keep it secret throughout the entirety of Judge Kavanaugh's regular confirmation process. They sat on this information for nearly 7 weeks, until they leaked it to the press on the eve of the scheduled committee vote.

But as my colleague, the senior Senator from Texas, said yesterday, the blatant malpractice demonstrated by our colleagues across the aisle will not stop the Senate from moving forward in a responsible manner.

As I said yesterday, I have full confidence in Chairman Grassley to lead the committee through the sensitive and highly irregular situation in which the Democrats' tactics have left all of us--all of us--Judge Kavanaugh, Dr. Ford, and the entire Senate.

Dr. Ford will be heard, and, of course, Judge Kavanaugh will have the opportunity to defend himself against this accusation--an accusation that he has unequivocally denied and that stands at odds with every other piece of the overwhelming positive testimony we have received about his character from his close friends, colleagues, and law clerks, from the distant past to the present day, including the high school years during which this misconduct is alleged to have taken place.

So this alleged incident is completely at variance with his entire history. He welcomes the opportunity to address the committee about this claim.

But, colleagues, we should not have gotten to this point in this manner, at this time. That this process has played out with so little order and so little sensitivity lies solely at the feet of Senate Democrats who sought political advantage in leaking this to the press instead of vetting it through proper channels.

But this is where we are. So on Monday Chairman Grassley and our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee will reconvene. They and the American people will hear testimony under oath.

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